I just had lunch with a friend who is a Family Therapist. She regularly counsels families struggling to pay for their high school kid’s $700/mo BMW lease payment and designer clothes – because they believe their kid(s) must competitive with their peers. The amazing thing is that she said these parents are not earning six-figure incomes – they are working at low-wage, hourly jobs.

We both agreed that the current dire economic climate is going to be a huge wakeup call – perhaps for an entire generation raised with amenities and consumer goods paid for with home equity and instant, E-Z credit.

I commend you Piggies who are helping your children understand and respect money. Like others on this thread, I learned hard lessons 20 years ago. I like to think if I had understood the basics of money management, I would have been LESS likely to have 12 maxed out credit cards at age 22 and may have been a better saver. I also believe that when people respect money they respect themselves, which flows into other areas of life.

Many people often soothe themselves with spending, or buy things to make themselves feel powerful/important. It also sounds like many of you parents out there are giving your kids the gift of healthy self-esteem, and the sense that they are good enough without Gucci sunglasses and Coach purses. And, that my friends, is a very good thing.